World Trade Center developer Silverstein Properties is moving toward selling Liberty Bonds to finance three Church St. office towers.
Silverstein was not expected to try selling the $2.6 billion worth of tax-free bonds until the towers were closer to opening. But the Liberty Bonds, a federal post-9/11 recovery measure, expire at the end of 2009. Although Congress is expected to extend the expiration date, Silverstein is looking to sell the bonds now just in case.
It would be difficult for Silverstein to sell the bonds in this economy and when the towers are so far from completion (work on Towers 2 and 3 has not begun, and Tower 4 has not yet reached street level). The Liberty Bond financing does not change the current financing impasse between Silverstein and the Port Authority, or the uncertainty about W.T.C. redevelopment.
Silverstein’s move on the Liberty Bonds came to light after the Empire State Development Corp. scheduled a public hearing on the bond authorization. The hearing will be held Thurs., Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place.
